The Story of Lost Hope
by DramaDramaDrama
Summary: "Sometimes, naïvely, she closes her eyes and hopes that Aro will find her. That all this — all this pain, this torture, this agony wasn't in vain. But then she opens her eyes and sees her torturers smirking down at her, and she knows that the naïvity of hope is a luxury she cannot afford anymore." Third installment in the A Dead Girl's Demise series. Not for the faint of heart.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does. No copyright infringement is intended, and I am not making any financial gain from this, either.

* * *

Prologue

"_Fuck_."

The young girl cursed into the raven phone in her hand, uncontrollable anxiety building up inside her as another daringly loud thump-ing noise echoed from the other side of the heavy wooden door. Instinctively crouching behind the sophisticated, king-size bed and allowing the soft black fabric of her long velvet dress to cover her almost entirely, the rate of her fear-driven heartbeats increased by the millisecond. The sound of a subtle, childlike smile was audible from the other line, but she did not care. Momentarily, her mind was occupied with other, more essential problems and questions. One in particular repeated itself in her head endlessly, haunting her until her anxiety had all but vanished while the thumps grew more and more frequent, threatening; leaving behind naught but pure and simply panic.

_How could it have come to this?_

That moment, her panic was replaced entirely by dreadful, morbid realization. In retrospect, the girl thought, she preferred the irrational state of panic.

As much as it hurt, the girl realized then, he had left her unprotected. One moment of naïvity, resulting in a total of two lifes of tragedy.

"Ruby, I love you" she whispered, hoping that her words would be heard.

She had just opened her mouth to continue her speech when, with a loud crack, the door was thrown of its hinges, followed by a clang as the piece of wood hit the flooring. The phone fell out of her hand in terror.

Silence.

When curiosity finally got the better of her, ever so slowly did the girl raise her head, stopping dead in her tracks once her eyes were able to get even the smallest of glimpses. There, hovering in the doorway, stood two cloaked figures who could not, physically at least, have been any more different. A slender girl on the left and an athletic man to her right, all that her attackers shared were their deadly crimson irises, pale skin and maleficent smiles on their picturesque faces. At their feet lay a dismembered guard, head still halfway attached to his body in an unnatural angle.

The girl did not even obtain enough time to scream — it was rather a yell that left her throat then, too short and too quiet to gain enough attention for help to come. The slender figure was by her side only an instant later, putting her fingers around her neck. The girl froze instantaneously as illumination hit her with full impact; she knew the girl, she realized. Involuntarily the memory of how they had been first introduced to each other played in her mind, how the girl had kindly bowed and smiled. And how now, this kind young girl had been replaced by a dark, sadistic one.

But she did not possess enough time to inform the slender figure of her realization. Only milliseconds later, the girl was dragged up into the air, and then forced to crash into the meter away wall. A loud clunk was audible as the girl's head hit the plaster, and with it the girl succumbed into subconsciousness.

"Your sister" the athletic one, husky-voiced, told the person on the other line meanwhile, a sadistic quality to his voice, "is as good as dead. Forget her. This conversation never happened."

And with that, crashing the phone into pieces in his stone-hard hands, the figures in perfect synchronization readjusted their cloaks, leaving with the unconscious girl in arm shortly later.

The young girl had been wrong. Not two, but a total of seven lifes would irrevocably change for the worse due to this incident.

* * *

_**Author's Note**__: This story is the third installment in the 'A Dead Girl's Demise' series. Its focus lies on in detail descibing the eleven days of Amber's days with Vladimir and Cora, the intermezzo with Phoebe and what comes after. In case you have not read The Story of Ruby Brown, it is crucial for the understanding of this companion story._

_Also, as can be seen from the rating, this story is not suitable for younger children and/or the faint of heart. You have been warned._

_Any opinions?_


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does. No copyright infringement is intended, and I am making no financial gain from this, either.

* * *

_Chapter 1 — July 24th, 2006_

It was in the middle of nowhere, in the isolated center of a mostly isolated forest, in the arms of an unusually pale, red-headed thirteen year-old, that the slender girl regained her consciousness.

Her emerald eyes, shining with hope and desperate to investigate information on where they were located, instinctually shot open only fractions of seconds later — only to acquire the certain knowledge that the girl obtained neither the knowledge of her exact location nor any means of escape.

Her emerald eyes, staring emptily at the sky, saw only the full moon and dark, blurred silhouettes of unidentifiable substances that could have passed both as trees and clouds. Inanely she tried to tilt her head to stretch her view, only to be almost violently pushed back into her former position by the laws of aerodynamics.

Whoever it was that was carrying her, she was moving at a certainly unhuman pace.

"Our little princess is awake," she heard said person sneer several seconds later, turning her head around towards something—or someone, in that matter—behind her. The girl's voice was high-pitched and seemed both excited and anxious.

"Good," a husky voice, presumably a man, answered barely audibly from several meters behind her. "That way we won't have to wait until she wakes up once we reach the shelter. Are you using your gift?"

The thirteen year-old sighed annoyedly. "How stupid do you think I am, Vladimir?"

"I'd rather not answer."

"Both of you, quiet" a second female voice chimed in. "They might be following us, and for us to be heard is the last thing we need."

Silence followed, and the slender girl with the shining emerald eyes and raven velvet dress found her thoughts drifting off. Who were these people? Where was she?

Most importantly, where was Aro?

Slowly yet inevitably, panic overpowered her sense of logic, filling her petite body with anxiety. She was lost, she realized, geographically as well as metaphorically.

Mere seconds later the unusual company suddenly came to a halt. Roughly, the girl fell out of the smaller girl's arms, painfully dropping onto the forest ground. Before her, deserted and covered in the dust of God knew how many decades, stood a tiny shed, windows shattered, door creaking and wide open. Several gray-looking flowers were dying in the front yard.

"Let's get this show on the road," the husky-voiced male smirked, within fractions of a second lowering his muscular, pale arms towards the ground, trying to grab his victim — yet his hands found nothing.

Running away at the fastest her short legs could carry her, the slender girl was well aware that she was quite literally running for her life.

* * *

Aro had just begun talking of the smartest strategy to dispose of the captured newborn when, entirely unexpectedly, he heard the heavy wooden door of the throne room open. Instantaneously, he turned, finding Demetri, a scared, desperate look on his elegant gace, standing in the doorway.

"Forgive me, Masters," he bowed, "But it seems that our prisoner has perished."

"_What_!" the blonde king hissed, standing from his throne in fury. "What insolence is this?! Have our guards evaporated into thin air?"

Demetri cleared his throat. "No, Master," he answered quietly. "But there is at least one of which I know for certain that was ripped apart, and when I went to find Aro's personal guard, who was on dungeon duty, I found her missing."

"Are you fooling us, boy?" Caius snarled. "You better be."

But Demetri merely shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Master. But apart from Renata, there is another individual currently missing." Taking a deep, unnessecary breath, he added:

"Master Aro, I am sorry to inform you that Mistress Amber is among the missing. It was the guard before her door that was torn to pieces."

If Aro had been human, he would have fainted.

* * *

**Author's Note**: Well, what to say? Yes, it is I, the author of this fairly strange story. I hope you enjoyed this. Updates are going to be relatively regular — and no, none of them will be marginally longer than this. Similarly to every author, though, I am entirely dependant of your feedback; so please, leave some behind. It would be greatly appreciated.

Also, the theme song for this fanfiction is '_Nova_' by Iko, in case you are interested.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight, I don't. No copyright infringement is intended, and I am making no financial gain from this, either.

* * *

Chapter 2

_Run._

That was the only word on the slender girl's mind. _Run. Run for your life._ She knew that even if she were to run at a record breaking speed, she would not stand the slightest of chances. She was aware too that she wasn't in the best of physical forms. Still, she ordered her legs to run at the fastest they could carry her — still, she was unwilling to give up hope.

After several seconds, she heard laughter errupt behind her. She didn't listen. She kept on running.

Valuable seconds of freedom; seconds that, when experienced, seemed to be pass horrifiyingly quickly and tortured the girl in their uncertain end, and would later be turned into a certain paradise by her selective memory.

But as quickly as the opportunity had presented itself to her, it was gone.

Panicked, her vision overlooked a tree root, and with an uncontrollable shriek, she landed face-first in the cold forest ground. The girl flinched, not in pain but in realization, as she felt warm liquid run down her right knee.

For a brief second she was forced to think of her deceased friend. Had her death been like this, too? Only that in her case, her killer had had no intentions to have her begging for mercy by the time it would finally arrive?

She could not help but smile as she saw her kidnappers, all three of them, making their graceful way towards her.

Something red flashed in the hand of the young girl. Something that, as the group came closer and closer, the slender girl recognized to be a camcorder.

_This can not be good._

"A little video diary," Vladimir sadistically smiled into the camera once the three of them stood directly before her. "It's our gift to you, Aro. A gift with daily updates. With cordial greetings from Stefan, Daciana, and the rest of the Romanian Coven."

"And from Mara and my parents," the young vampire girl added. "They have all come back from their graves to haunt you, since they have died at your hands."

Renata said nothing. She shyly smiled into the camera, but stayed silent. There was a silent spark of rebellion in her eyes.

"Say hi to your lover, human" Vladimir ordered. "Tell him to come and rescue you."

The girl stayed silent, frozen in fear.

Less than a second later, she cried out in agony, clutching her leg protectively — a futile effort. Vladimir's mouth lay on her wound, and while Renata and the young vampire girl commented on the proceedings, he bit down. Instantaneously she was consumed by a fiery pain that made her wish for oblivion.

"We've prepared ourself," Renata noted. "One hour before the change is inevitable. Less than an hour, and you can suck the venom back out again without problems."

The young vampire girl smirked evily. "Stay tuned for the first of many hours of screams to come."

A lone tear streamed down the human girl's cheek.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the safety of a millennia old castle, Aro was out of his mind in desperation.

"Demetri," he begged. "Please. You must see something."

But the messy haired vampire male only shook his head. "My condolences, Master, but it seems that with Renata utilizing her shielding ability and the newborn girl with the unknown gift, there is nothing that I can do."

"Betrayal!" Aro yelled enragedly. "How dare my own personal guard go ahead and plan something alike this behind my back...?!"

"Aro, calm down" Marcus tried to coax him. "We need to be as calm as possible now to make the best of decisions."

"Calm down?!" he replied. "_CALM DOWN?!_ My mate has been kidnapped by my arch-enemy and two others, one of which knows the war technique of the Volturi first hand from centuries of guard membership, and you tell me to CALM DOWN?!"

"He's got a point, Marcus, you know" Caius stated. "Still, Aro, choices must be made."

Aro shortly nodded. "Part the guard in groups of two," he ordered. "Only Chelsea and Corin will remain here to protect us and the wifes. I want Alec and Jane searching Italy and Western Europe, Santiago and Louïs in Eastern Europe, Felix and Demetri in Africa, Celine and Sarah in Southern America, Myriam and Graham in North America, and the entire rest evenly distributed upon the rest of Asia and Oceania. I expect daily reports via phone."

"Aro, are you out of your mind?" Marcus asked. "We have never sent the entire giard away but two. What if this is a tactic of the Romanian and he will attack by dawn? This is madness."

"Indeed it is," Aro replied. "But brother, look me in the eyes and tell me you would not have done it for Didyme. Tell me that you wouldn't have sacrificed the Volturi in its totality for her sake. Tell me that you wouldn't have taken the risk."

There was a minute of silence until Marcus answered.

"Very well," he said. "If it is madness that started this, then let the world as we knew it end along with it."

* * *

**Author's Note**: I'm still alive.

I'm not entirely sure that anybody is even reading this anymore, but hey, just for the sake of finishing the last part in the A Dead Girl's Demise series, here goes nothing.

Please leave a review if you did read it. I'd be very grateful for any feedback.


End file.
